Frontier knows how to game the broadband subsidy system, and that’s OK CPUC says

The California Public Utilities Commission has decided that broadband subsidy proposals can be challenged almost forever, instead of right up until the moment commissioners vote, as it has allowed in the past. It rejected an appeal of a 2017 grant by a wireless Internet service provider in Trinity County, Velocity Communications, ruling that once a draft decision is issued, ISPs can’t submit speed test data that purports to show that the area in question is “served” and thus ineligible for a California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) grant. That’s good news.

The bad news is that until the draft decision is issued – typically a month before the commission votes – incumbents can take all the pot shots at grant applications they want. By rejecting the appeal, commissioners put their stamp of approval on the routine practice of ignoring the deadlines they set. It’s OK, they said, for Frontier Communications to persistently lobby staff after the formal challenge period closes…

Velocity is correct that Commission staff accepted a late filed challenge from Frontier…the deadline for submitting letter challenges to a CASF application is 14 days after web posting of the CASF application by Commission staff. Historically, Commission staff has been lenient with this requirement and accepted late-filed challenges after the 14-day period out of an abundance of caution…

What Velocity fails to acknowledge, however, is the significant difference between Commission staff accepting a late filed challenge while the evidentiary record is still open compared to accepting new evidence after the proposed resolution has been issued and the evidentiary record has been closed. There is no statute, Commission decision, resolution, or rule prohibiting Commission staff from accepting a late filed challenge while the evidentiary record is still open (prior to the issuance of the draft resolution), which is what staff did in regard to Frontier’s challenge.

Allowing ISPs to file perpetual challenges to broadband infrastructure projects wouldn’t be a huge barrier if the CPUC otherwise stuck to its schedule, which calls for a final decision on proposals within three and a half months. But abuse of its open door policy – Frontier is a major offender – creates delays that can drag on for years and effectively kill independent projects that incumbents find inconvenient.